“I knew in the back of my mind that I was going to be back this year, even when they said my season was over,” said Myers, who had surgery on his right hip June 4. “I had a feeling that everything was going to be OK.”

Here is what is interesting about Myers’ return, if it comes true. The popular theory inside the Phillies organization is that Myers’ hip injury cost him velocity on his fastball. Sure, he touched 92 mph this season, but he regularly sat in the 88-89 mph range. If the hip is healthy and he can add a few more clicks to his fastball, he could be a pretty effective relief pitcher for the final month and a half of the season.

“I think occasionally after the hip would lock up on me, I definitely didn’t try to throw the next one as hard as I threw that one,” Myers said. “I think it had something to do with me backing off just a little bit. But I definitely think I can throw harder. Anytime you come out of the bullpen you’re going to throw harder.”

Myers said he will throw a bullpen session Saturday. If that goes well, he will fly to Jacksonville on Sunday before he reports to Clearwater on Monday. He has been long tossing for about a week.

*

Pedro Martinez will throw a simulated game tomorrow. He could make a rehab start Sunday.

*

J.A. Happ on trade rumors that have him going to the Blue Jays in a Halladay deal: “I’m trying to do what I can to stay here. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough, but I’ll find out.”

*

Charlie Manuel made his case for getting Halladay.

“I think that we’re definitely in a window, that period where we definitely have a chance to compete every year and have a chance to win every year,” he said. “I think that with all the talent that we’ve got, we need to put some more pieces around it. I think if we can do that, that’ll make us better.

“I think any time you put a team together — I’m definitely not here to do any other job but manage their team — but I’d say that the best possible team you can put on the field in the Major Leagues is what you want. And if you can always upgrade it or always put better talent on the field, why not do it?”

Trading J.A. Happ is the worst thing we could do, the man has 0 losses and a good ERA, what good what it do to trade him away? I know who Roy Halladay is, the best pitcher I have ever seen, but I don’t want to sacrifice Happ and the rest of our farm system to get him. It could be good to have Myers back, depending on which Myers it is, if it’s the Myers of the beginning of the season who gives up absurd amounts of HR’s then i’d rather get Chad Qualls quite honestly.

Happ has looked good for sure, but let’s not get carried away with him…If he leaves the ball up in the zone like he was earlier in the year, he is going to get hurt. Every pitch in the playoffs is magnified and please don’t tell me you’d prefer a rotation of Hamels-Blanton-Happ-Pedro/Moyer/Lopez to Halladay/Hamels/Blanton/one of those 3. If Hamels gets himself right by the playoffs (no sure thing) and we pick up Doc then that is a World Series Rotation for the next two years, possibly longer.

If it takes Happ/Taylor/Donald/Marson/a low-end prospect or two, I’d pull the trigger. Of course, if we could keep Happ, then great, but that would probably cost us Drabek. They’re called prospects for a reason, you just never know with them…We do know who Halladay is.

Was Halladay with the Phillies last season ? I didn’t think so. And they still won it all. How’d they do that ?

If the theory of “get the best guy now, no matter how many prospects we have to give up or no matter how much it costs us” held true, the Yankees would win every year. Instead, they’re a laughing stock sitting in their billion dollar white elephant with no meat in those outrageously priced seats and their super high dollar signings struggling to live up to the hype.

The Phillies will give up their future and their treasure to get Halladay here and he’ll go on the DL or forget where the strike zone is.

Making a smart trade for a proven stud is not always a bad thing. Here’s a good link I checked out the other day: http://www.reclinergm.com/will-a-halladay-trade-be-worth-it-a-historical-look-at-trades-for-aces/
It’s not like the Phils would trade Taylor/Brown/Drabek/Carrasco/Knapp/Marson/Donald altogether, but if it takes 2 or 3 of those guys (depending on the 3) they have to take advantage of the opportunity they have right now. Obviously we have a great lineup, but with Hamels scuffling all year, we do NOT have a sure thing starter in the rotation right now. Give me Halladay and a shot at the Series for at least the next two years. Who knows what will happen with the prospects…We know a lot more about them in this day and age because of the internet meaning we’re more attached to them. There have been plenty of flameouts in the past and there will be plenty more to come.

Trading for Halladay would give the Phils a feasible chance to win the WS for the next 2 years. people have to look beyond the NL; the dodgers are frauds and the cards are good not great. look at the AL. Beckett/Lester/Wakefield would surely trump Hamels/Blanton/Moyer any day of the week. I love JA Happ, but you cant expect him to keep this up the entire year. We should give up those prospects to get Halladay; Drabek isnt going to pitch in October. If everyone stood back and thought about October, im sure every naysayer would welcome Halladay in an instant.

The only question anybody here needs to ask themselves is: Does Roy Halladay make the Phillies better in October? No buts. Yes or no?
And I expect nothing from Myers in 2009, unless Lidge just completely melts down and Myers can bring it at 93-94 like he did a couple of years ago. I’m not real hopeful.

We need all the insurance that we can get with Lidge. The way he is pitching now, he his setting us up for a Mitch-esque ’93-like postseason. Yikes!!! They’d better not trade Happ either. The Jays are getting desperate. Don’t let a desperate team hold a gun to your head. Play hardball and get Halladay on your terms. Remember, Toronto’s main goal is to dump salary. When push comes to shove and that deadline is approaching, they will take the best deal on the table and rid themselves of Halladay’s salary.

I actually hope Nyers doesn’t pitch again this year. If he does, and he’s decent, he’ll probably be signed as a FA by some other team. If he doesn’t pitch he’ll probably sign with us a one year Arbitratin contract. This would make our rotation next year: Hamels, Haliday/happ, Myers, blanton, Moyer/drabek. I like that much better then Hamels, Haliday/Happ, blanton, Moyer, Drabek. And if we can get Haliday and keep Happ, oh what a rotation we’d have.

If Myers can bounce back and help the team at the end of the season I seriously won’t be surprised. He is a real gamer and I’ll forever remember the year he had in 2007 when he was thrust into the closer role and for the most part dominated. Brett is in a really tough spot. Does he come back and try to be the hero in hopes of inking a nice deal in the offseason? Or does he just sit the rest of the year out and not risk further damage? Ultimately I think he wants that second ring.

So the Mets shot down that Halladay deal. A part of me was hoping they would get him so they could look even more terrible when they miss the playoffs.

I love that this hot streak makes it look like we don’t have to do the Halladay deal… maybe we’ll end up giving less. BUT, it better not convince Ruben that we don’t need to do the deal. As phan has been saying, it’s all about that top 3 in October.

The current hot streak does make me worry that the front office might rest on their laurels. However, Ruben, whether you believe it or not, has been vocal in saying that they only want a top-tier arm. If a team was staying pat I would think that they would only be linked to discussions for second-tier arms. Just a thought. But man is this team hot right now. I really can’t say enough about Ibanez. Right now he has been worth every penny and more even after spending time on the DL. I have never seen a player hit the ball so consistently hard as he does. Right now that signing is an absolute steal.

I am all for landing Halladay, but not for the price of JA Happ. It would be a monumental mistake – this kid has been as good as Halladay and the most consistent starter on the team. Seeing how good he is now, imagine how much better he will get with more experience? BIG mistake if they trade him.

Many people keep raising past trades where the prospects traded (Fergie Jenkins mainly) came back to haunt us. I’d like to offer these two recent trades as counter balance:

Lidge for Michael Bourne (and others) Yes Boune is going to lead the legue in steals this year, and is a welcome addition to Houston’s OF and lead-off posistion. But does anyone regret the trade? Without Lidge we wouldn’t have been parading down Broad St. last year.

Blanton for Outman and others. Yes, Outman is a Welcome addidtion to the A’s rotation (or was until he ended up on the DL) but again, without Blanton we wouldn’t have made the palyoffs last year, and wouldn’t be in first this year. Anyone want to undo that trade?

Why not trade prospects? Even if they do trun into the player we think they can be, the player we get helps us now, and in many cases, in the future as well. Sell the farm-no, but I’d lease it out to get Doc

If this report is true, I find it very discouraging that the Phillies refuse to trade a guy who hasn’t pitched an inning above AA for the best pitcher in baseball.

And c’mon, Jenn. Happ as good as Halladay? We’re talking about a potential first ballot HOFer and a guy who has 10-12 starts in the major leagues. I am sure that the Phillies are offering Happ and the Jays want Drabek. Neither Happ nor Drabek should ever be a roadblock for this deal.

Regardless of how good Halladay is I just cannot see giving up someone in our rotaion that is winning games for us, I realize Halladay’s records are obviously better than Happ, but still we go back to square one, with the same amount of pitchers getting it done, I would give up Drabeck if that is what it takes, I have been against that in the past, but if thats what it takes then give them Drabeck, but not Happ….. it maybe that the Jays are trying to unload someone else in the deal that we don’t need or want….or one side is holding out to the deadline for the better deal…
Outside the Phillies Looking Inhttp://devilabrit.mlblogs.com

The thing with Halladay is that he’s unproven in October, you see it that the best pitcher in the regular season can be just average in the postseason, or the other way around. Take the Yankees recent dynasty. Orlando Hernandez = average, Orlando Hernandez postseason = unreal. Chien Ming Wang = 19 wins, Chien Ming Wang postseason = lit up.

I hope the SI article is right not only because of the omission of Drabek from a trade but also because of the apparent omission of Happ. It seems that negotiations are at the point where the teams are discussing prospects only. The Phillies are in the cat-bird seat here not the Blue Jays. The Phillies are going to the playoffs this year with or without Halladay. The only thing that is sure is that the Blue Jays have to continue to pay Halladay and the longer they wait to trade him, the less they will get. It appears that Ruben Amaro, Jr., is showing his mettle.

I find it astounding that people actually value Happ over Halladay.
And f-i-j, the report clearly states that the Jays want Drabek. If they wanted Happ the deal would have been done tomorrow. Why do you think the Phillies signed Pedro? If they traded Drabek for Halladay they would have 6 starting pitchers on the roster when Pedro is ready. They obviously mean to send somebody from their current rotation; hence, the need for Pedro. And Happ is the only one in theior rotation that fits the profile of what the Jays might want.

I do like that the Jays scouts have been concentrating on the Phillies minors and that Gillick was in Toronto over the weekend, that could all be good signs for the Phillies…. but then again who the hell knows till it’s either done or the 31st comes and goes

I hope the Blue Jays stick to their guns and insist on Drabek if it means keeping Happ. Toronto can go pound sand. Some of us do not need the instant gradification. Getting Halladay does not guarantee anything except the denuding of the Philies farm system.

I want Halliday on this team at the cost of just about any 4 prospects/young players in the majors or in our system. I see it like this:

Tier 1:
Drabek, Taylor, Brown

Tier 2:
Happ, Knapp, Donald, Marson, Carrasco

Tier 3:
Mayberry, Carpenter, Kendrick, Savery

I would include any 2 players from Tier 1, but not all 3, I would include 2 players from Tier 2, and anyone from Tier 3 or below. The Phils not wanting to include Drabek, if true, might keep the deal from happening. I am confident we’ll be in the playoffs, but not confident we’ll beat the Dodgers or any AL Team with the current pitching staff.

Phan: Pedro Martinez’s Philadelphia Phillies deal was just filed, and it pays him $2 million prorated (or about $1 million), plus incentives that could pay him several hundred thousand more. He is to receive $75,000 for each game from games six through 10 and $100,000 for each game from games 11 through 15, and a bunch more in the way of incentives and awards bonuses. Here’s what else: $50,000 for 10 relief appearances; $50,000 for 15 relief app.; $50,000 for 20 relief app.; $50,000 for 25 relief app.; $75,000 for 50 innings, $125,000 for 75 innings, $175,000 for 100 innings. Plus, he gets $100,000 World Series MVP, $50,000 for LCS MVP, $100,000 for Cy Young ($75,000-2nd; $50,000-3rd); $25,000 for Gold Glove; $100,000 for Comeback Player of the Year. Plus, for each day on the active roster (not including DL): $50,000 for 15 days; $50,000 for 30 days; $50,000 for 45 days; $50,000 for 60 days; $50,000 for 75 days.”

Most interesting part of that for me arethe incentives for relief appearances. Answer your question about what we do if we have 6 starters? We make Pedro a RP

I know your question wasn’t directed to me, but what I think Halladay adds to the Phillies is a much better chance in a short series to win. We saw what Hamels could do to a series last year when he was on. Since he is not pitching as well this year (I hope he turns it around and becomes more consistent) I think we need a stopper to match up with the other playoff teams top pitchers. Halladay doesn’t guarantee we win anything, but he gives our lineup a chance to win without needing to score 6 runs or more.

The guarantee caveat is the definition of a strawman argument. Of course, nothing is guaranteed. But are the Phillies a better team in October with Halladay at the top of the rotation?
The fact is that he not only makes them better, he makes them the favorites. And that’s not a bad position to start from in October.
And f-i-j, you totally missed my point. I was trying to explain to you why the Phillies would part with Happ to make the deal. They were prepping the playing field when they signed Pedro. Any idea of him being in the bullpen is a fallback position.

phan52………………….The handwriting is on the wall. From a business perspective, Halladay adds nothing to the Phillies. The small incremental gains obtained by going a game or two further into the playoffs are more than offset by the costs incurred by obtaining Halladay. How deep the Phillies go into the playoffs is not going to have any bearing on next years attendance. But to answer your question, Happ guarantees no more than Halladay but at a less cheaper price.

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